Paths of the Wilds
by Idle Stripe
Summary: The Lion, the Wolf and the Snake at seventeen years of age - who they were, where they were and the paths they chose. Quotes used are already credited to their quoters.


_**-Path of the Wilds-**_

_**-A 'Kingdom Hearts' fanfiction-**_

=^w^=

"_The one excellent thing that can be learned from a lion is that whatever a man intends doing should be done by him with a whole-hearted and strenuous effort." – Chanakya. _

After the Swordsmanship Exams, Squall's prowess had been recognised enough for him to obtain the title of 'Commander' within the barracks he lived in, taking control of large platoons of troops and bringing them back in one piece. He threw himself into the role with a gusto most people wouldn't have seen from a seventeen-year-old teen, but the brunet managed to prove everyone wrong by combining tactical strategy with an unparalleled battle force that swept enemies away like flies.

"Commander Leonhart, Heartless have been spotted just beyond the camp!" Turning flat grey eyes on the reporter, Squall nodded and gazed down at the computer screen in front of him. Sure enough, the readings on the monitor didn't lie; a large swarm of...something...was heading right for their position.

"Commander?"

"Ready all available troops. We need to – what's going on?" A tremor suddenly shook the room, forcing the brunet to run outside and examine what was going on. The sky had darkened within two minutes, more Heartless appearing at their feet. Lionheart swept them away and the Commander ran to the front door, flat grey eyes watching strange bolts of lightning striking at his troops and forcing them to their knees where they were consumed by the Darkness.

"Commander!" Squall turned in horror as his reporter met the same fate as his troops. Helpless, the brunet ran through the battlefield, cutting down any Heartless in his way, and reached a dark cyclone that had cropped up seconds before he cleared the landing.

"What's going on?" he roared to the turbulent winds. Nothing answered, but a great black hand reached out and picked him up, drawing him into the cyclone and away from the world he knew.

When Squall opened his eyes next, he was lying on a cobbled road with a petite girl poking at his head.

"Hi there, I'm Yuffie," she grinned when she saw his eyes – storm grey and swirling with emotions, "What's your name?"

Squall responded with the first thing that came to his head. "Leon."

=^w^=

Somewhere in the middle of a battle, a blond swordsman felt the warmth of his marker and looked down at the triangle swinging against his hip.

The grey point flashed dangerously, as if someone was in trouble.

=^w^= =^w^=

"_Wolves are very resourceful. All they need to survive is for people not to shoot at them." Bob Ferris._

By seventeen years of age Cloud was a full-fledged Coliseum fighter, Hades' contract binding him to the sport in a vicious circle: defeat the enemies and get closer to Hercules, get more involved with the Darkness in return. With his crimson red cape, golden gauntlet and leathery black wing he was the most intimidating thing fighters had ever seen (aside from the silver-haired man with the long sword).

Stepping out of the arena, he made a point of ignoring the satyr yelling at him to get back and hose off his face before going to rest in his quarters, instead moving off to the dark forum to sit down and think about things.

"Good fighting today kid. Must say, I was real impressed how you handled yourself out there."

"Aren't you always, Hades?" The deity appeared in a plume of black smoke, sitting himself beside Cloud and leaning back onto the seat behind him.

"Alright, I did a little background research on your next opponent. Let's just say you've got a little competition on your hands, but I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle," he said, punching the blond's shoulder, "After all, everyone here wants to fight you." Cloud shrugged off the cold touch and stood up, walking away from Hades and to his own room. Propping the Buster Sword against the foot of the bed, he removed the cape and laid down on the sheets, staring up at the ceiling with glowing blue eyes. The glow illuminated a photograph he'd taped up there, a photograph of himself with two other people – one male and one female.

"Why can't I remember you?" he whispered, "Is this what the Darkness is doing to me?" Hearing Phil hollering his name, he slowly redressed himself and pulled himself back out to the lobby of the Coliseum, raising a brow at the brunet standing beside the satyr.

"Alright, here's your trainin' buddy," said Phil, "He's gonna be stayin' with you in your room so get used to it."

"And if I refuse?" Cloud folded his arms over his chest and tried to appear as intimidating as possible.

Storm grey eyes weren't impressed. "Guess you'll have to get used to it, _roomie_. There are worse people you could be wrangled with." With that, the brunet grabbed his things and left the lobby.

Blue eyes rounded on Phil. "And the reason is..."

"Crowds' orders; I'm just deliverin'." he replied, shrugging and clip-clopping away. Cloud watched him go, then shrugged himself and headed back to the room where the brunet was just standing next to the bed looking up at the photograph on the ceiling.

"Do you remember these people?" he asked, pointing.

"No, but I know I should because they may hold my memories," replied the blond, "If we are going to be staying together for the duration of your stay, by what name would you like me to refer to you as?"

"Leon," The answer was short, "What do I call you?"

"Cloud." Blue eyes narrowed, "I warn you now that I am a paranoid person." Something flashed, and Cloud's Buster Sword was the only thing defending him from a weapon that looked to be a hybrid of a sword and a gun. Leon smirked and retracted his weapon, shouldering it carelessly though Cloud could tell he would swing again at a moment's notice.

"Good to know. I have a habit of setting off people's paranoia." he said, sitting down on the floor and closing his eyes. For good measure, he attempted to jab the blond in the toe. All he got for his efforts was a CLANG which told him he'd struck the large sword again.

"Nice." was all he said for the rest of the night.

Cloud smirked. This new recruit was going to be fun to avoid; Hades probably already had him written in the contract...

=^w^=

Somewhere in the Darkness, a sixteen-year-old girl opened her eyes to the bright blue light flashing in front of her, courtesy of her triangular marker.

It was time to return to the Light.

=^w^= =^w^=

"_The snake will always bite back." – Jake Roberts_

Merlin shuffled his things about in the cramped room with a flick of his long wand, assorted books, china and other bric-a-brac flying around the room. In the corner the Fairy Godmother sighed and waved her wand at the occasional stray object, putting it back into line with the others. There had to be another way for the wizard to organise his things rather than pulling them all out, shuffling them about a bit, then returning them to a different spot to create more clutter.

But, the Fairy Godmother thought, it was Merlin she was sharing an area with; something had to give...

Footsteps outside brought the shuffle to a halt, objects dropping to the floor with a loud clatter. Spinning around Merlin raised his arms to cast a powerful spell but stopped when a familiar head poked through the curtain hiding the secret entrance to the house.

"I heard something going on here so I thought I'd have a look," said the female, stepping inside, "Merlin, is that you?" The wizard removed his glasses and polished them on his long white beard, checking his eyes to make sure that the person standing in front of him wasn't an illusion. Replacing them on his nose, he broke out into a smile and rushed forward to embrace the person.

"Tora!" He slapped her heartily on the back, "My, I didn't recognise you; you've grown up so much!" Tora blushed and smiled.

"Yeah, it has been a while Merlin," she said, "I felt your magic signature all the way back here and when I heard the crash I wondered what exactly was back here." The Fairy Godmother stepped forward and examined Tora's filthy clothing, raising an eyebrow at some points and shaking her head at others. She nodded her head and rolled up her sleeves, "Bibbidi bobbidi boo!" In an instant Tora found herself wearing cleaner clothes, her arms bound by green arm and wristbands better suited for spell casting.

"How's your magic coming along, my dear?" asked the wizard. Eyes lit up, Tora grinned.

"It's coming along great! Would you like a quick demonstration?" she asked. Smiling, Merlin took her down to the training room where several furniture items materialised themselves for the magician to practise on. Grinning, Tora cracked her knuckles and stepped into the room.

"Fire!"

"Freeze!"

"Thunder!"

Merlin smiled to hide his thoughts; that was some powerful magic. "Leon would be thrilled to see you again, my dear." The magic died down, and Tora looked at him.

"Leon?" she asked.

"You know Leon, brown hair...scar on his face-"

"You mean Squall?" Gold eyes looked down at her hands, "I haven't seen him in nearly five years..." Shaking her head, Tora looked at Merlin, "Merlin, I have a really bad feeling about Traverse Town. I'm sorry I couldn't give you a longer demonstration of my magic but I really need to get going; I made a promise to King Mickey and Queen Minnie that I'd track some really sinister magic signatures in case they turned out to be something that could jeopardise the worlds as we know them."

Merlin nodded. "Well, it was good to see you again, Tora. Do stop inside before you go; I have a gift for you." Nodding, Tora followed the wizard inside where he presented her with a beautiful charm choker, the pendant dangling from it heart-shaped, "This was given to me by your father, and now that you're nearly the right age you're welcome to it." Taking the necklace, Tora allowed the Fairy Godmother to help her put it on then faced the pair.

"Can you give this to Leon for me?" Unclipping something from her belt loop, she held it out, "It's a marker. He'll have one the same; I want him to keep it until we meet again." Nodding at the two, the magician gave them both a hug then quickly took her leave. Looking down at the marker, Merlin smiled and turned to the Fairy Godmother.

"Tea, dear?" he asked.

=^w^=

Somewhere in Traverse Town, Leon felt his marker warm up and pulled it out of his pocket.

The green point of the triangle was glowing.

=^w^=

_**DISCLAIMER: The disclaimer applies to the characters and settings of the 'Kingdom Hearts' series – Disney and SquareEnix – and Tora Altona – me. **_


End file.
